French-German filmmaker Dominik Moll returned to the Cannes Competition on Thursday with police drama Dossier 137 , which received a very enthusiastic eight-minute ovation -- where the audience actually was standing.

The film stars Léa Drucker as a police officer working for Internal Affairs who is assigned to a case involving a young man severely wounded during a tense and chaotic demonstration in Paris. While she finds no evidence of illegitimate police violence, the case takes a personal turn when she discovers the victim is from her hometown.

In her review for Deadline, Stephanie Bunbury called the film "a police procedural of serious purpose and sober delivery." Moll and co-writer Gilles Marchand "bring into play their experience with suspense and an insistent narrative rhythm so that, while it isn't exactly fun, it is gripping." Drucker, she wrote, "gives vitality to every move and counter-move."

Moll's breakout film, 2000's Harry, He's Here to Help, screened in Competition here before his thriller Lemming opened the festival in 2005. He was most recently on the Croisette with 2022's The Night of the 12th in the Premiere section.

Dossier 137 generated headlines earlier today when it was revealed that Cannes Film Festival Delegate General Thierry Frémaux had banned one of the film's actors, Théo Navarro-Mussy, from walking the red carpet after it emerged that he has been accused of sexual assault by three women.

The complaint was dismissed by the courts in April, but the plaintiffs have said they are planning to lodge an appeal as civil parties.